Authors: Darcy Town
UNFAITHFUL.
QUESTIONING.
IMPURE.
YOU ARE STAIN, YOU ARE SIN.
Ladriam went to stand by Lucifer.
Lucifer froze; he could not take his eyes off her.
She gestured between Lucifer and Him.
“I have no stain on me from this, no wrongdoing.
Speak the truth to them!
Tell them why you seek to say I am sin!
It is not for this reason!
You are—”
YOU SPEAK NOTHING BUT LIES.
“No!”
Ladriam stood with fists clenched.
She stared at the throne.
The hosts of Heaven froze.
Ladriam pointed.
“I speak
no
lies!”
The fire kept silent, pulsing.
She shook with anger and fear.
“I have done nothing, but acts innocently undertaken!
You punish ignorance!
That is wrong.
You are wrong!”
YOU DO NOT DECIDE.
“I argue my case!”
THERE IS NO ARGUMENT.
YOU ARE GUILTY.
AGAIN, LUCIFER, DID SHE SAY THE NAME?
Lucifer strained.
“Yes.”
Ladriam broke out in tears.
“He is Primangel!
Why would I know it and he not?
This does not make sense, Lucifer!
Can none of you see or hear this?”
She looked back to the throne.
“Why do you not tell them the truth?”
She scratched her arms.
Her six wings flapped in agitation as the realization struck her.
“You fear them knowing!
You fear
Lucifer
knowing of me and of your name, the truth!
Why?”
YOU QUESTION AGAIN, LADRIAM THE UNFAITHFUL.
YOUR QUESTIONING NATURE ONLY DISPLAYS YOUR UNWHOLESOME BEING, UNBELONGING, UNRIGHTEOUS, AND NOT DESERVING OF ME.
DO YOU CONTINUE TO QUESTION?
“Yes, I do!”
Frantic, she looked at Lucifer.
“Why me and not him?
Why?
Tell me!”
ENOUGH OF THIS.
REPENT.
Ladriam blinked back red tears.
“Repent
what
?”
YOUR SIN.
“There has been
no
sin
!”
IF YOU FREELY GIVE UP YOUR MEMORIES, I WILL ALLOW YOU TO RETURN TO HELL, FORMLESS.
THERE IS NO NEED FOR PUNISHMENT.
RETURN TO ME AS YOU WERE BEFORE THIS.
BE MY INNOCENT AGAIN SO THAT WE MAY JOIN AND BE ONE.
REPENT AND SUBMIT YOURSELF TO MY WILL.
“That is punishment!”
The fire swirled.
WHY?
Ladriam pointed at Lucifer.
“I love him.
I want to be with
him
.”
LUCIFER, DO YOU PLACE HER ABOVE ME?
“That is not what I said!”
YOU DO NOT ACCEPT MY DECISION.
YOU WISH TO BE WITH THIS ONE.
THAT IS PLACING LUCIFER ABOVE ME.
LUCIFER, DO YOU PLACE HER ABOVE ME?
Lucifer could not look at her.
He went to one knee.
“No.”
OBEDIENT.
AS
YOU
SHOULD BE, LADRIAM.
REPENT AND SUBMIT, GIVE ME YOUR WILL.
She tore at her hair.
“I do not want to forget!
I do not want to be alone again!
You kept me apart from this!
You kept me alone in the dark!
You sent me to the light only so I could grow, to be with
you
!
None of it was for me!
This was for you and it did not go as you wanted.
You are jealous because I love
him
!”
SILENCE.
Ladriam looked to Lucifer, but he looked between her and the throne unsure of what was going on.
HE CANNOT HEAR YOUR LIES, LADRIAM.
NONE OF THEM CAN HEAR YOU.
ONLY I AM HERE FOR YOU.
HE CANNOT BE WHAT I CAN BE.
“He is everything!
You could
never
be as him!”
The fire addressed Lucifer.
LUCIFER, IF I ASKED IT OF YOU WOULD YOU LOSE YOUR MEMORIES OF LADRIAM, OF THAT PLACE?
Lucifer sagged, his heartache terrible.
“Yes.”
Ladriam could not bear to look at Lucifer.
She pointed at the fire.
“Cruel!
Unjust!
Jealous!
Spiteful!”
SILENCE!
The force of the voice sent everyone to the ground.
Ladriam stood immovable. She strained against the energy.
The area around her bent and warped.
YOU HAVE ONE MORE CHANCE TO REPENT.
IF YOU DO NOT, THE OUTCOME WILL BE WORSE FOR YOU.
YOU THOUGHT YOURSELF ALONE BEFORE, I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT LONELINESS IS.
I WILL SHOW YOU THE TRUE DARKNESS.
Lucifer begged from his place on his knees, “Please obey, Ladriam.
Why do you not obey?”
Ladriam looked at him, shaking.
She put her hand over her heart.
“I cannot obey what is not right.”
Lucifer gaped.
“It is His will.”
“That does not mean it is right, Lucifer, just because He says it is!”
YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO HIM, LADRIAM.
HE KNOWS HIS PLACE.
DO YOU REPENT OR DO YOU SUFFER?
Her eyes blazed as hot as the fire.
“Will I have my memories in suffering?”
THAT IS ALL THAT YOU WILL HAVE.
“Then I
do
not
repent.”
LUCIFER, RESTRAIN HER.
Lucifer locked his hands around her wrists.
She pulled on him.
“How can you do this to me?”
Lucifer looked at his feet.
“I can only obey His will.”
“But I did no wrong!”
He spoke softly, “That is not for me to decide.”
“What happened to the ‘you’ you were before?
You have a free will!”
“No.
I have His will, Ladriam, and I believed our actions to be a part of that, but now I know that was not the case.
If He says you have disobeyed, then you have.”
He closed his eyes, battling back the wave of pain and fright that ate at him.
He wanted to let her go, but what he wanted had never been important, never considered.
He lived as an extension of the fire on the throne.
He knew only to obey.
There was nothing else.
Ladriam stared at him, at the others behind her.
Only Paimon, with a sense of right and wrong, strained not to cry out.
Their eyes met briefly and she looked away, unwilling to drag someone else in.
She stopped struggling.
“I accept what you dole out.”
IN THIS AT LEAST OBEDIENCE.
Ladriam looked up.
“No.
That never again.
I hope.”
FOOLISH.
LUCIFER, BRING HER.
APPROACH BERITH, ANDREALPHUS, PAIMON.
Lucifer brought her forward.
Paimon, Berith, and Andrealphus were close behind.
THIS WORLD YOU CREATED, THIS
THING
YOU ADORE MORE THAN ME, THESE WILL BE YOUR PRISON, LADRIAM.
YOU WILL STAY, LOCKED AWAY, YOUR LIGHT PUT IN THE DARK SO THAT NONE MAY BE TAINTED BY IT.
IN SHACKLES AND IN DARKNESS YOU WILL SPEND YOUR ETERNITY, ALONE, WITHOUT.
The fire spoke to all present, LADRIAM THE UNFAITHFUL, FOREVER KNOWN TO THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN AS THE UNPURE.
NONE SHALL LOVE HER, SHE IS DARKNESS, HER DEMENSES OF HELL IS NO MORE.
THESE THINGS ARE TRUTH, THAT WHAT SHE CREATED IS DISHARMONIOUS, SHE IS THE ANTI-LIGHT, AND FOR THIS SHE IS MARKED.
SHE IS TO BE COVERED, IMPRISONED FOR TIME ETERNAL.
The plans for her prison became known to Lucifer and the three Archangels.
Paimon let out a high-pitched whine.
He stared at his feet, fighting against what he knew was wrong.
He broke out into a sweat.
Berith and Andrealphus took him away.
Lucifer and Ladriam remained near the throne.
She stared at the fire, knowing she was in a losing battle.
“Why did you not tell me my purpose before I was sent?
Why?
I would have obeyed…”
YOU SHOULD HAVE DESIRED NO OTHER.
I LET YOU SEE, I GAVE YOU LIGHT, A BODY, AND YOU RETURNED MY FAVORS WITH UNGRATEFUL BEHAVIOR.
I GAVE YOU MUCH, YOU GIVE ME ONLY REGRET.
“Then why did you not stop me?”
I BELIEVED YOU BETTER.
I BELIEVED YOU WORTHY.
I TRUSTED WHEN I SHOULD NOT HAVE.
Ladriam shook her head.
“Only once the
name
was spoken did you look for me.”
YES, BUT I WOULD HAVE EVENTUALLY REGARDLESS.
“Where was your gaze turned?
What were
you
looking at?
Or could you not see me until I called—”
IT IS BETTER THIS WAY, LADRIAM.
HE WILL FORGET YOU, THEY ALL WILL.
THAT PLACE YOU BUILT WILL BE TAKEN APART AND LUCIFER WILL BE AS IF YOU NEVER WERE, PERFECT AGAIN.
HE WILL BE MINE AGAIN.
Lucifer flinched.
He did not want to forget her, their time together, the things they had done.
He trembled; he wanted her more than anything else, but he could not defy.
He could not raise a hand to help her or speak for her.
He had never gone against His will and he did not know of any other way.
This course was inevitable, unavoidable.
A small unheard part of him screamed in rage and despair.
He could do nothing.
Ladriam looked between them.
“Please do not do that to him or our world.”
I OWE YOU NOTHING.
Ladriam clasped her hands together.
“Lucifer did nothing wrong, the living things on our planet did nothing wrong.
They are all innocents!
You are
just
, please.
Do not hurt them.
Please let them remain.
Please!”
LUCIFER, BREAK HER WINGS.
Lucifer let go of her wrists.
He placed his hands on her feathers, his movements stiff.
He looked at the throne, stalling.
His eyes begged the fire, doing what his mouth was unable to do.
Ladriam went still, refusing to fight or hurt him.
She could have.
Strength hummed in her body, waiting to be released.
A physical thing, she was strong in the realm of Heaven.
She could have broken Lucifer in an instant, but she could no more injure him than injure herself.
She knew they were intertwined.
As much as He despised the connection, it remained the truth.
She looked up at Lucifer and blinked back tears.
She knew he had to obey.
“It is okay, I love you.”
BREAK HER WINGS, LUCIFER.
NOW.
Lucifer closed his eyes.
He snapped her carpal joints and bones beneath his fingers.
He found her primary feathers and tore them out in clumps.
Her halos sputtered as he moved from one wing to the next.
Blood splashed his hands and poured down her back.
Her scream ripped through Heaven, dropping everyone but Lucifer to their knees.
Her howl took on notes none should utter.
In her, the songs of death, destruction, and despair were born and through their connection, they became known to Lucifer.